Thinkpads Forum

I have three 600E's which have all been acquired from different sellers.

All three TP's have a strange smell - a sort of "medical/clinical" smell.

The smell does not seems to disappear over time - its always there.

None of my other Thinkpad models smell (T30 , T21 , 570, 570E , 380, 360 etc etc)

Do all 600E's have a strange smell? One thought I have is maybe its from a cleaner used when refurbishing the 600E case - but you would think the smell would disappear over time!!

Any thoughts? - I actually get complaints from family members about the terrible smell!!

None of my 600e Thinkpads ever smelled. I think I've had seven.

never had funny smells here either.

If the laptop is refurbished then i would get in contact with whom you bought the laptops from

The 600 series "smells" because that particular model of Thinkpad was built to a specification so exact. Once they get 15-20 years old some of the new pad smell tends to leak out.

Funny. I have one that I picked up from Goodwill that has a strange, almost "sterile" odor. I thought it was due to the age, to, but I have older TPs that don't have any noticeable odor.

I have 2 600's - from different people, over different years, and they both smell! It's a battery/acidic smell. I've removed the batteries, and cleaned the battery compartment, but it makes little difference - they still emit this odor! I'm going to get rid of them. It's a shame, as they are in great condition otherwise.

Anyone want 2 600's for free?

Use them in a shed, or something! They'll come barebones: no HD, no RAM, no drives, no adapters. I will include the batteries, but don't think they are working.

It would be best if you are in the Toronto area to pick them up.

Send me a PM if you want them.

Dos3.1 wrote:It would be best if you are in the Toronto area to pick them up.

Tis a curse that I do not live anywhere near Toronto.

Saucey wrote:Tis a curse that I do not live anywhere near Toronto.

... where tomorrow's high is forecast to be 27F while sunny SoCal is 72F.

Back OT: My 600E systems, along with a couple of 600X, have that distinktive [sic] smell. I've attributed it to the paint job since the smell transfers to my hands when I'm handling them.

Saucey wrote:

Dos3.1 wrote:It would be best if you are in the Toronto area to pick them up.

Tis a curse that I do not live anywhere near Toronto.

Doubt you'd want to pay for the shipping, as you'd likely find these down your way cheaper, and I don't really feel like packing them up (why I'm looking to hand them off locally), but if you want to trade something TP related I could be interested. PM me if so.

rkawakami wrote:

Saucey wrote:Tis a curse that I do not live anywhere near Toronto.

... where tomorrow's high is forecast to be 27F while sunny SoCal is 72F.

Back OT: My 600E systems, along with a couple of 600X, have that distinktive [sic] smell. I've attributed it to the paint job since the smell transfers to my hands when I'm handling them.

'Tis rather frigid here, currently (though I was marveling at the beauty of the snow and ice covered fields the other day, sparkling in the sun)....one of these 600's was deep frozen for days before it came to me - and it still worked!

The smell seems to be coming from inside the machines I have. There are open slots where it wafts out of. The batteries stink, too. So maybe it is the batteries on mine that leaked and seeped in. The laptops still smell with batteries removed and battery areas wiped down.

I like these models, great compact build, but they gotta go!

Last year I noticed

rkawakami wrote:that distinktive [sic] smell

coming from my boxes of old Thinkpads and Thinkpad parts, including some 600X's as well as 770Z and 701C. Like some others here, I assumed it was related to the batteries, and I did find some battery leakage in a 701 . But I'm not sure the smell has completely gone, and maybe it is somehow related to the motherboards or the paint or...?

If you are checking/removing the batteries on your 600, keep in mind that you also have a CMOS battery (watch cell size) that could leak.

I have two 600's (600 and 600E) and my first Thinkpad 12 years ago (600E) also smelled that distinctive smell. Not obnoxious or anything but noticeable.
It is not related to any of the batteries (all were in tact, both main and CMOS) and mostly apparent when laptop is working so the fan blows it from inside.

Whew. I know this is an older thread, but glad I searched for it. My newly acquired 600E also has that funny smell. it's not really a bad smell...just a weird one.

And as others have stated, none of the other machines have that smell.

When I disassembled a Li-ion battery, the fluid inside was sweet smelling.

I guess it could be some plastic or rubber parts slowly disintegrating.

///http://www.conservationregister.com/PIc ... astics.asp

I have recently acquired a 600.

It emits a cleanish smell, like hydrogen peroxide or something.

The smell is not overpowering in any way nor is it disturbing, you really have to get in close to notice it.

The rubber coating on mine is deteriorating, the smell may be some cleaning agent used in the factory to clean the plastics before the rubber material was applied.

My newer thinkpads (lacking rubber coating) do not have this smell.

One of my 600Es has no smell at all, but the other has that burnt electronics smell on the middle of the lid and what sorta smells like wet dirt or some antiseptic in the middle of the bottom- both cases it's a small area and I have to squash my nose up to the machine to smell it. None of my other ThinkPads have a smell, even the T23 that has degrading and sticky rubber on the lid.